Grid for ice pans



Dec. 3, 1929. J. R. WEEKS ET AL GRID FOR ICE FANS Filed May 28. 1928jvwe ntow till Patented Dec. 3, 1929 rrED STATES PATENT OFFICEJ'Elll'flilh RODNEY WEEKS AND HAROLD A. GREENWALD, OF DETROIT, MICHIGAN,AS-

SIGNUlF-LS T0 WHITEHEAD AND KALES COMPANY, OF RIVER ROUGE, MICHIGAN, A

lJURPUllVATIUN U15 MICHIGAN GRID FOR 10E Pans Application filed May 28,

This invention relates generally to grid constructions for ice pans ofmechanical and/ or electrical refrigerating apparatus and consists ofcertain novel features of construction combinations and arrangements ofparts that will be hereinafter more fully described and particularlypointed out in the appended claims.

In the present state of the art, grids, as well as ice pans, havingparallel or substantially parallel walls have been used in the formationof ice cubes and it has been found that the water or other liquid infreezing expands slightly thereby causing the sides of the cubes to beforced firmly against the parallel walls of the grid and/0r pan with theresult that the grid cannot readily be removed from the pan and thecubes cannot readily be removed from the grid. Usually a thawing outprocess is required to loosen the parts so that the grid and cubes canbe removed from the pan and the cubes then removed from the grid.ldioreover, grids having such parallel walls are quite stid and rigidand therefore cannot be used to facilitate or assist in the removal ofthe grid and/or cubes from the pan. Such grids are not satisfactoryeither from the manufacturers view point as considerable laher and timeis required to first form the separate wall strips and then assembledthe same in crossed relation to form the parallel wall constructionsreferred to.

"With the present invention however, the objectional features just setforth have been entirely overcome by the provision of a gridhavingangularly disposed walls that not only obviate entirely all possibilityof the ice sticking thereagainst due to the expansion of the liquid infreezing,'but actually facilitate and aid the removal of the icetherefrom, especially when such walls are polished or chromium plated.Preferably our grid is constructed and arranged in such a way that itmay be formed of one piece of metal, may be readily removed from a pan,and after removal may be bent or flexed slightly longitudinally tofacilitate the removal of the ice therefrom.

In the accompanying drawing:

Figure 1 is a top plan view of an ice pan 1928. Serial No. 281,320.

with a pan embodying our invention applied thereto.

Figure 2 is a side elevation thereof.

Figure 3 is an end view thereof.

Figure 4; is a longitudinally sectional view taken on the line H ofFigure 1.

Figure 5 is a detail side elevation of the gri Figure 6 is a viewsimilar to Figure 1 but showing a slightly modified construction.

Figure 7 is a detail view of the grid shown in Figure 6.

Referring now to the drawings, 1 is an open top ice pan which may or maynot as desired, be of conventional form, and 2 is a grid embodying ourinvention. As shown, the pan 1 has a substantially flat elongated bottom3 provided along its longitudinal edges with upwardly diverging sidewalls a and 5 respectively, and provided along its transverse edges withupwardly diverging end walls 6 and 7. Preferably the end and side Wallsare of the same height and have their meeting edges secured rigidlytogether in a suitable manner to prevent leakage. Flanges 8, 9, 10 and11 respectively project laterally from the upper edges of the walls 4,5, 6 and 7 and an inverted substantially L-shaped tongue 12 projectslaterally from the end flange 11 and constitutes a handle or fingerpiece by which the pan may be moved into and out of the usual freezingchamber (not shown) of a suitable refrigerator.

The grid 2 preferably comprises a single transversely corrugatedrelatively heavy gauge spring metal strip having a width slightly lessthan the width of the bottom 3 of the pan and having the corrugations 13thereof substantially equal in depth to the depth of the walls of thepan. Preferably each corrugation 13 is substantially V-shaped throughoutits width so that when the grid is in the pan successive corrugationsthereof open alternately upwardly from and downwardly toward the bottom3 of the pan. All of the corrugations 13 are preferably the same sizeand are devoid of end walls.

To facilitate the removal of the grid 2 from the pan 1, the upwardlyinclined side wall 1% of the end corrugation 13 preferably has a"pendicularly disposed with 1 to assist in the laterally projectingflange 15 constituting a handle or finger piece. Normally this handle 15overlaps an end flange 10 or 11 of the pan and may be readily grasped tolift the grid.

In use, the pan 1 with the grid 52 therein as shown in Figures 1 and 2may be filled with a liquid to be frozen and then placed in the usualfreezing chamber of arefrigerator. W hen filled the liquid will be aboveand below the grid, due to the clearance between the sides thereof andthe sides of the pan, hence such liquid will be in the downwardlyopening corrugations as well as in the upwardly opening ones. As theliquid freezes into wedge-shaped blocks of ice, expansion thereof willcause the resulting blocks of ice in the downwardly opening corrugationsto slide on the diverging walls 16 and 17 away from the apices 18 ofsuch corrugations and cam upwardly the grid and ice in the upwardlyopening corrugations. Freezing of the liquid above the grid will alsocause the ice blocks in said upwardly opening corrugations to camthemselves upwardly in said corrugations away from the apices 19thereof. Thus the ice has a tendency to loosen itself in the respectiveV-shaped molds or corrugations so that it may be readily removed fromboth the grid and the pan.

lVhen it is desired to remove the grid from the pan, the said grid maybe lifted by the handle 15 at one end thereby causing the other i. e.the lower edge 19 of the downwardly opening end corrugation to fulcrumon the bottom 3 of the pan. After being re moved the grid may be bent orflexed slightly longitudinally to flip therefrom any ice still carriedthereby.

Thus, from the foregoing description, it will be readily apparent thatwe have provided a grid that may be more readily removed from a pan andthat facilitates and assists very materially in the removal of the icefrom both the pan and grid. As the grid is formed of one piece ofmaterial and'is corrugated. it will also be apparent that assemblyexpenses have been obviated and it may be readily rolled or pressed tothe desired shape at a comparatively low cost. Moreover the springconstruction thereof enables the grid to readily bend or flexlongitudinally, for instance when fulcruming on the bottom 3 of the pan,or when bent after being removed removal of the ice therefrom.

If desired, as shown in Figures 6 and 7, the grid walls 20 may bevertically or perrespect to bot tom 3 of the pan so that successivecorrugations 21 thereof-open alternately toward the longitudinal sidewalls 4 and 5 respectively of the pan. In this instance the verticaledge 22 of the end corrugation 23 could be fulcrumed on the upper edge24: of an end Wall of the pan and the grid may be so moved by a handle25 projecting at substantially right angles from the verticalcorrugation 27.

lVhile it is believed that from the foregoing description, the natureand advantages of the invention will be readily apparent, we desire tohave it understood that we do not limit ourselves to what is hereinshown and described and that such changes may be resorted to whendesired as fall within the scope of what is claimed.

hat we claim as our invention is:

1. A receptacle for the prmlnction of fro- Zen fluid in mechanicalrefrigerators comprising an open top pan, and a removable grid in saidpan comprising a strip of flexible material provided longitudinallythereof with transversely extending substantially V-shaped corrugationsof substantially uniform depth, certain of said corrugations havingtheir apices extending transversely of the pan adjacent the upper edgesthereof and having their side walls diverging downwardly from saidapices toward the bottom of said pan.

2. A receptacle for the production of frozen fluid in mechanicalrefrigerators com prising an open top pan, and a removable grid in saidpan comprising a strip of sheet metal provided loi'igitudinally thereofwith transversely extending substantially V-shaped corrugations ofsubstantially uniform depth, certain of said corrugations having theirapices extending across and resting upon the bottom of said pan andhaving their side walls diverging upwardly from said apices toward theupper edges of said pan, one of said side walls having a lateralprojection projecting over an edge of said pan and constituting a handleby which said grid may be removed from said pan.

3. A receptacle for the production of frozen fluid in mechanicalrefrigerators comprising an open top pan and a remov: ble grid in thepan comprising a. strip of pliable niaterial provided longitudinallythereof with transversely extendingsubstanti ally V-sha ped corrugationsof substantially uniform depth, successive corrugations openingalternately upwardly from and downwardly toward the bottom of said pan.

4. A receptacle for edge 26 of the end the production of frozen fluid inmechanical refrigerators com prising an open top pan, and a removablegrid in said pan comprising a strip of pliable material providedlongitudinally thereof with transversely extending substantially V-sh apod corrugations, successive corrugations opening alternately upwardlyfrom and downwardly toward the bottom of said pan, the apices of thedownwardly opening corrugations being in a common plane at the upperedges of said pan.

5. A receptacle for the production of frozen fluid in mechanicalrefrigerators comprising an open top pan and a removable grid in saidpan comprising a strip of pliable material provided longitudinallythereof with transversely extending substantially V-shaped corrugationsof substantially uniform depth, successive corrugations opening upwardlyfrom and downwardly toward the bottom of said pan, one of saidcorrugations having a lateral extension projecting over an edge of saidpan and constituting a handle by which the grid may be removed from saidpan.

In testimony whereof we ailix our signatures.

JAMES RODNEY WEEKS.

HAROLD A. GREENWALD.

